With global bee populations shrinking drastically, designer Karen Ingham's decided our winged pollinating friends need all the help they can get. Enter the Pollinator Frock, a garment doused in a nectar-like solution that's designed to help foraging bees.

The Pollinator Frocks Project is a limited edition collection of clothing based on scanning electron microscopy images of plant pollen grains linked to endangered pollinators. These digitally enhanced images form the basis for a range of striking and unusual printed fabrics, which act as 'wearable gardens'. The fabrics will be treated with pollinator food sources that replicate nectar, which will be specially coated onto the fabric prior to cut and assemble as 'pollinator frocks' (loose fitting unisex clothing). Working with technologists at the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating research is also underway that looks at olfactory attractants and iridescent coatings that mimic the way insects view flowers. The designs consist of 'day-wear' for insects such as bees and butterflies and ‘evening-wear' for moths. In the urban environment where garden space is limited and nectar rich plants rare, the clothing can be hung out as clothes are hung on a washing line, to act as an attractant to pollinators.